Railroad crossing or frog and method of making the same



C. W. BREED. RAILROAD CROSSING 0R FROG AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZ; I921.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

' UNITED STATES A TE T" OFFIC.

CHARLES w. BREED, or wnsrnrmisrinrnes, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD cnossme on raoo AND METHOD or MAKING THE SAME,

Specification of Letters Patent. Fafented A 11 1922 Application filed May 2, 1921. Serial No. 466,103.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. BREED,- a citizen of the United States, residing at lVestern Springs, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad Crossings or Frogs and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following is a full,

clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to'a railroad crossing or frog and method of making thesarne. The invention contemplates theprovision of a crossing or frog that is cast of manganese steel, or steel having substantially similar characteristics, and which, even under the pounding ofvery heavy traflic, will not develop depressions in those portions of the wheel carrying surfaces of the casting which lie adjacent the intersections of the flangeways therein.

.Castmanganese steel possesses anumbei of characteristics which render it particularlydesirable foruse in railroad crossings, frogs, and the like, but heretofore the use of these castings in structures'of the class mentioned, has been subject to a very serious objection, viz, the po1 1nding.incidental to heavy trafiic has invariably caused depressions to occur in the wheel carrying surfaces of such castings at ,points adjacent the intersections of the flangeways which are formed therein. It is my theory that during the course of the usual heat treatment which follows the removal of the castings from the molds in which they are formed, the grains or molecules composing the steel become separated to a very considerable extent and that when such a casting is put into service, in a railroad crossing or the like, the hammering effect, of the wheels running across the flangeways pounds the steel until the grains or mole cules composing the same are very closely compacted. At any rate it hasbeen found that after a manganese steel casting has served any considerable time in a railroad I have discovered that after the wheel carrying surfaces have been depressed to a definite extent, varying somewhat with the q ual1ty of the steel, the depth ofthe depres- 810118 does notincrease, and in subsequent use of the crossing, those portions of the wheel carrylng surfaces adjacent the flangeway intersections withstand the shock and wearing aptlon of the wheels as well as do those portions of the wheel carrying surfaces which are more remote from the fiangeway intersect1ons.- I believe that this phenomenon may be attributed tothe fact that after the metal has been depressed to a certain extent' by the pounding ofthe wheels, the gra ns ormolecules composing the steel become compacted .to the maximum extent. H

Thereisgalimit-to which thesaid grains or molecules may be compacted. After that limit is obtained, further pounding of the wheels has practically no effect in so far as the deepening of the depressions in the wheel earrying surfaces of the casting is concerned, i f I 5 Depressions formed in the wheel carrying surfaces of a crossing or frogcasting, as explained above, are very injurious to roll.- ing stock,- -and to a very large extent, are responsible for the shocks sustained by passengers when a coach passes over the ordinaryform ofrailroad crossing or frog.

.So far. as I am. aware, no one prior to me llaSdevised a method-of constructing a Y theheight-of same varying with the limit to: which the particular grade of steel, of which the casting'is formed, may be compae ted. .,These pads or high surfaces are then pounded until the metal constituting the same has been compacted to the limit hereinbefore mentioned. The initial height of the,pads orfhigh surfaces is such that when compacted to the maximum extent, the upper surfacesof the pads lie flush jacent the intersections. of the casting flangeways. The use'full'ifefof the casting is thus prolonged and the shocks to rolhng stock at the crossing or frog are minimized.

' 3--3 of Figure 1.

My invention perhaps will be best under stood when a detailed description thereof is read in connection with theac'companyingdrawing, in whicha 1, Figure 1 is afragmentary top plan view of a railroad crossing, the casting shown In this figure being shaded to indicate those portions of the wheel carrying surfaces thereof which are subjected to the greatest shocksin service.

Figure 2 is a section which may be regarded as havin' been taken on either of the lines 22 0 Figure 1,"this view illustrating, by dotted lines, the pads or high surfaces which are formed on the wheel carrying surfaces of the casting, and a I Figure 3 is a section taken on the line In the drawing, reference letter A indicates a 'portionof a crossing casting of manganese steel. The wheel cari'vin' surfaces of the casting are indicated atB-1 and the intersecting flangew'a'ys are indicated at CC'. Except for the pads presently to be described, and the manner in which the same are treated, the particular casting here shownne'ed not difler essentially in its construction from crossing castings now in n- I height of the pads is clear the dotted lines in Figure 2.

eral use; hence any one skilled in the art to which myinven'tion relates will under stand how the crossing casting here shown is attached to and co-opera tes with the'rails of the tracks with which it is associated.

Those portions of the wheel carrying surfaces which must withstand the greatest shocks in service are indicated by the shading designated DD in Figure 1. The casting of my invention is provided with raised surfacesfor,pads which lie within the shaded areas D-D; These pads are integral with the casting and the 11 per surfaces thereofjare preferably inclined in the directions of travel. The padsare highest at the margins of the fiangeways and taper down to the level of the other wheel 'carrying surfaces of the casting. The initial y ca e by V The final step in the method of In invention.- is to hammer I the upper sur aces of the pads until the said upper surfaces lie in the same plane with the other carry n is of th s in Th max m m beam o the Pad i ai suc t a hen the pads have'been pounded down flush with the other wheel carrying surfaces of the cast ing, the metal of those portions of the wheel carrying surfaces which lie next adjacent the flangeway intersections/will have been compacted to the reatest possible extent. This being accompished, will be understood that depressmsin' the wheel carrying surfaces of the casting, due to wheels pounding upon the portions thereof next adjacent the flangeways, will notbe produced.

While, for the purposes of illustration, I have elected to* describe my invention as it is applied to the manufacture of a railroad crossing casting,- it will be understood that my invention is, not so limited butis equally applicable to the construction of other similar devices such asfrogs and the like.

Having thus described my invention, what ing the upper surfaces of said pads and therebycausing the same to lie flush with the other portions of the wheel carrying sur-' faces of the castin y h 2. The method 0 making a railroad cross ing or the lik'e which conslsts in forr'ningi a casting rovided with intersecting flangeways an with raised pads at those ortions of its Wheel carrying surfaces which ie adj acent the fiang eway intersections, and then compacting those" wheel carrying portions of the casting which lie adjacent the flange way intersections by pounding the upper surfaces of thepad's into the same hor zontal planer asthe otheriwheel carrying surfaces of the castin. V g, 3. The method 0% making a railroad crossing or the like -which consists in forming a casting provided with intersecting flange was, wheel carrying surfaces, and raised pa' s on those ortions of the wheel carrying surfaces which are most violently engaged by car wheels crossing the flangeways and hammering the upper surfaces of the pads into the same plane with the other wheelengagingsurfaces of the casting] 4. Arailroad crossing or the like comprising a castin provided with intersecting ge ay an those portions of'said casting adjacent to said flangeway intersections increasing in density toward-the points of greatest wear; 5. A railroad crossingorthe like cornprising a casting provided with intersectin wheel carrying surfaces,

phnethosi p on o a d i g i i cent to said fla'ngeway intersections coniprising compacted metal of greater density density than the uncompacted portions of than the remaining portions of said casting. said casting. 10

6. A railroad crossing or the like com- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe prising a casting having a Wheel carrying my name this 2nd day of March, 1921. 5 surface, all portions of Which lie in the same CHARLES W. BREED.

plane, a flangeway crossing said surface, a Witnesses: portion of said casting adjacent said flange- EDNA V. GUSTAFSON,

Way comprising compacted metal of greater EMILE J. BOURGEOIS. 

